The building has been a hive of activity since a meeting of 400
students voted to occupy in protest against proposed course cuts next
year. The decision to announce the closure of two humanities courses
in the third term incensed students who saw it as a deliberate
attempt to push through cuts when students were least likely to fight back.

This year students across the country have faced a devastating
assault on their education rights and living standards which exploded
in a rash of protests and occupations in November when the Tories
announced a 30 percent cut in the already paltry student grant.

Although the occupations weren’t widespread enough to reverse
the Tories’ policy, they succeeded in inspiring the will to fight
in many students. The occupation at UNL is a tribute to the argument
that flowed from the November struggles: occupations and
demonstrations are a weapon that can beat not only local management
but the government too.

One of the most striking things about the UNL occupation is the
level of involvement: even after two weeks the daily meetings are 200
strong. Debates can last for hours – whether to put ads in the
papers, hold a local demo, which local workplaces to visit – and
yet the urge to maintain the democratic process is so strong that
everyone stays through to the final votes and decisions.

The atmosphere is a mixture of physical exhaustion and unflagging
enthusiasm. After the marathon mass meetings students break up into
various groups to organise the next day’s activities, rotas and
publicity statements. Then there are the political meetings – on
every subject from Ireland to the Criminal Justice Bill.

When a student was heard to say, ‘This is a bit like what
socialism would be like’, he was referring both to the fact that
everything from the creche to the library was organised better and
the spirit of cooperation and solidarity amongst students, forged in
the weeks of taking control of their college, was like tasting a
recipe you’d only previously read about in cookery books. People
grew through the experience of their struggle.

When the police and bailiffs broke the doors down and broke up the
occupation after two weeks and two days the students left proud and
chanting, staging an impromptu march around Camden. Far from being
daunted by the prospect of having to continue the fight they
immediately made plans to visit students in occupation in Luton to
offer solidarity and support.

The most popular slogan of the day was ‘We’ll be back next
term’. The students may not have won their demands yet but what
have been won are the hearts and minds of thousands across the
country to the idea that occupations are the way to fight. The
Tories’ troubles over education are not over yet.